Carrapitt Plants is a long-established wholesale nursery in Devon producing alpine and rockery plants mainly for the Garden Centre trade. When we started the nursery in 1983, we made a conscious decision to specialise in one area in order to build up a deep level of skill and produce the highest possible quality plants. Now more than 30 years later, we are still adding to that knowledge in terms of scheduling propagation to produce saleable sized plants just coming into flower at the right time, batching popular lines to enable a continuous supply and propagating more challenging varieties.

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The nursery remains a family business with a dedicated team of local employees.

 

Situated nearly 1,000 ft above sea level on the eastern side of Dartmoor the climate here can be quite challenging with higher rainfall and cooler temperatures. In a 'normal' season the nursery would expect to get 1400mm (45 inches) of rain a year compared with 785mm in Exeter and 1000mm in Plymouth with temperatures in the winter which can fall to below -8 Centigrade. This tough growing environment means our plants are grown strong and hardy. Our polytunnels have net sides and open ends and act merely as an ‘umbrella’ to keep the worst of the rain off without raising the temperature. With this in mind we think it likely that most of our plants will go on to more favourable climes and that if they can survive with us, they will thrive in most other places!

 

All the plants we sell have been grown by us in Devon and carefully selected to appeal to a wide range of Garden Centre customers from the beginner to the enthusiast. We have found that customers are often put off by the term ‘alpine’, thinking that the plants need specialist conditions. Many of our plants, such as Helianthemums, Aubrieta, Dianthus and Sedum do very well growing in flower borders and are better suited for growing in today’s smaller gardens than some more traditional larger growing shrubs. Over the years we have expanded our range to include a small number of plants that are not strictly alpines, but which nevertheless complement our traditional range.

 

We are constantly trialling varieties, old and new, to see which ones offer the best value in terms of plant health, habit and ease of cultivation. The best ones will make it onto our list whilst the less good ones won't.

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Our main range of plants are grown in 7cm square pots. This is a good size for the garden centre as it offers a well-grown, established plant at an affordable price. It optimises the display area; in the space that 20 of our 7cm plants take up, you could only fit 12 x 9cm pots.

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We also grow a range of more mature plants in a larger 13cm round pot for customers wanting a more ‘instant’ garden.

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Autumn flowering gentians and hardy cyclamen are grown in a 9cm square pot.

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Our VAT registration number is 456 2609 39

EU Plant passport number: UK/EW 105239 ZPa2